The Morning Wire / Sat Oct 3, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Oct 3
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Oct 2Oct 3Oct 5 →

The market in a line

Sat, Oct 3
Choice cutout closed $2.60 lower at $374.19. 10 barns across 5 states reported 676 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 28 USDA
Weighted across every reported lot, by weight class. Weekly rather than daily — one day's barns are too thin a base for a national figure.
WeightPricevs prior weekHeadBarns
300-399 lb515.03/cwt$1.01 higher3,854163
400-499 lb462.19/cwt$1.32 higher10,712175
500-599 lb414.98/cwt$9.57 higher17,467179
600-699 lb366.55/cwt$2.93 higher12,280171
700-799 lb344.10/cwt$2.64 lower8,528161
800-899 lb333.11/cwt$1.92 lower10,078114

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Sat, Oct 3, weighted by head. Spread of $39.73 between the top and bottom of 6 barns. An average moves with the cattle that showed up as much as with the buyers in the seats — a yard with better grade will average higher on the same demand. This is where the money landed, not a verdict on the barn.
BarnStateAverageHead
EricsonNE412.85/cwt394
South Branch Valley Livestock ExchangeWV404.89/cwt211
Weston Livestock MarketingWV396.86/cwt30
Crossville Livestock AuctionTN389.84/cwt40
Shenandoah Valley LivestockVA381.50/cwt87
Somerset Livestock AuctionKY373.12/cwt52

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 2 USDA
Choice $374.19, $2.60 lower. Select $354.49, $1.60 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.70. 119 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
24,298 head traded Sep 26–Oct 2.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered348.452,602
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB345.0040
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered220.75283
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.387,538
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.108,344
NebraskaLive Delivered226.00700

At the barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA
One barn per state, largest first — more states file than fit here. Your own state is linked below.

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder and yearling steers and heifers steady, Moderate to good demand for feeder and yearling classes. Slaughter cows 3.00-5.00 lower, Slaughter bulls steady, Moderate demand for slaughter classes.

Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Sheep and Goat Special today, similar head run of Feeder and Slaughter Cattle compared to last with a good run of short legs. Above average attendance and active trade throughout. Sheep offering made up almost entirely of Hair Breeds. Good and Choice Lambs 80# averaged $288.19 per cwt;

Weston Livestock Marketing · West Virginia

Compared to last week Feeder Heifer mostly steady; Feeder Bulls unevenly steady; no trends on Feeder Steers due to lack of comparable data; Slaughter Cows 4.00 to 6.00 lower; Slaughter Bulls 2.00 to 4.00 lower.

Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold steady to 3.00 lower. Slaughter Cows sold 5.00 to 10.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold steady.

Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)256.38/cwt$1.63 higher645
Boner (85% lean)267.20/cwt$2.01 higher1,979
Cutter (90% lean)271.64/cwt$0.98 higher3,366
Premium White288.69/cwt$2.24 higher1,597
Bull (92% lean)321.95/cwt$0.89 lower352

What published

See every report →
11 USDA reports carried this date — sale barns, state summaries, video and board sales, grain, hay and the national desks.
Source: USDA AMS. Every figure is USDA's as filed, and the direction words — higher, lower, steady— follow the arithmetic rather than an opinion. Quoted comment is the work of USDA market reporters, credited to the sale it came from. This is RaisedBeef's rendering of USDA data, not a copy of USDA's document and not endorsed by USDA.